Gray was sprawled across the ground exhausted both physically and mentally. His eyes were barely open and everything was foggy. In the distance he could faintly hear stomping foot steps. Straining he tried to focus on it.

'Don't tell be Lyon is coming to finish me off. I feel like such a failure.'

The thought of being a failure not being able to protect himself made tears start to gather at the corners of his eyes. Not wanting to feel utter useless and dishonor his mother's memory he struggled to push up on his forearms.

'Ice dragons are one of the toughest dragons. We don't and won't just lie down and take it. We fight till the bitter end even at the cost of our lives.'

It was true. Ice dragons were tough in more than one sense. They were tough to beat in battle but also tough to court. Being used as secondary mates made them this way. Never trusting the honeyed words and coos from others besides their family.

He was shaky and tired but pushed through. Tilting his head to the sound he saw tan feet clad in black sandals. And the smell of burning wood and meat filled his nose.

Gray smiled slightly but groaned from the strain he was putting on his worn out body.

'Don't give up. You can do this.'

Natsu hobbled up the temple still encased in ice. What he saw was heartbreaking. Gray straining to pick himself up off the ground and ice coating the areas around him.

Going over to him he examined Gray as thoroughly as he could without being able to bend down properly.

"So that Lyon guy beat you huh?"

Gray flinched and growled to himself in his head. He looked weak to his destined mate. Why was he such a failure? Shaking his head he got to his feet barely finding his balance.

Natsu worried about his and wanted to reach out to Gray but his arms were still limited in their movements due to the ice encasing him. On shaking legs Gray was leaning on Natsu before gravity could pull him down again.

"Hey it's okay. We all lose battles every now and then."

Gray just huffed a sigh and started to lean forward his eyes on Natsu. Natsu was hypnotized. They were so beautiful. The color of wonderful stone work that artists painstakingly make.

Or the beginnings of a thundering storm about to unleash its wrath. Or what Natsu thought suited Gray best. Old ink on a piece of paper. The ink has been around for so long and been read by many or by few and the words themselves hold so many secrets.

The words could be interpreted in so many ways that they couldn't be farther than the truth. Only the writer themselves knowing what their true meaning is. But sometimes there is a person who gets it right.

Natsu hoped that he could one day be the person that someday could read Gray like that. But that would take time and effort. Well he better get on that.

Gray leaned onto Natsu's ice encased body and started to like the ice. He didn't have enough energy to try eating it. Natsu seeing the fatigue Gray was showing picked him up fireman style because that was all he could do started to walk to the village at the base of the temple.

Dreading the answer but needing to know Gray spoke his mind to Natsu.

"Hey Natsu. Do you think I'm weak?"

"What are you talking about!? You are one of the strongest people I know for how little I've known you! You've dealt with the pain of seeing your mother's body and torture from people who want to eradicate everything related to dragons! And now you're a member of Fairy Tail that makes you even stronger!"

Gray was taken aback at Natsu's words. They were so heartfelt and so sincere. It almost made him want to cry. It was so sweet to hear that. Gray gave a small smile and started to chip off some bits of ice to eat and regain his strength.

If the people he was brought her with needed it he would do everything in his power to protect them. Even if he didn't know them for very long he was fond of them. He'd even use the forbidden ice dragon spells to protect them from harm.

It was customary for dragons to sacrifice everything to keep their family safe even their own lives. If it came down to it he'd willingly put everything aside to protect his new family.

And possibly if all panned out well. He'd get to have Natsu as his mate and give him a family. That sounded like a plan. But if that were to happen Natsu would have to court him and preform the mating rituals.

It was customary for dragons of different types to preform the mating rituals of their intendeds type. For ice dragons it was a song and dance for the mating pair do every year on the day of their mating.

And for fire dragons if he remembered right it was a flashy display of their strength and power. Every dragon was different but they all respected the rituals. Doing the rituals showed respect and compassion for their mates type.

As they were starting to make it to the village the gate rolled up and Natsu sped up a little jostling Gray out of his day dreams. Looking to the side he could see Lucy waving her hands in a no motion and telling Natsu to stop.

And to Lucy's relief he did. But when he started tapping on a strange patch of grass on the ground in front of the gate. Then both suddenly fell down into a pitfall.

All the villagers started praising Lucy on her trap that Natsu stupidly fell for while he and Gray sat at the bottom. Gray groaned in pain because Natsu landed on top of him.

"Yol hahdrim.(Fire mind(so basically fire brain).)"

"What did you say frosty?!"

"Nothing that wasn't true."

"You know I don't understand so tell me."

"Nid way. Learn nii ahrk siiv out yol su'um.(No way. Learn it and find out Fire breath.)"

Gray huffed. He knew it was kinda cruel to insult Natsu in another language but in a sense he was flirting with him. Seeing how far Natsu would go to learn what he could about himself. Besides he wanted to have intimate conversations with his mate in the future.

It would just make things seem more romantic. But just as the dust cleared it showed Natsu not encased in a ball of ice. Happy that he wasn't hindered by it anymore Natsu cheered.

Happy came down into the pitfall and pulled the two one at a time out. Gray thanked him by giving him some soft petting and purring. It was calming. But when he didn't feel Eclipse trying to get in on the attention he started looking around frantically.

Gently placing Happy on the ground he spotted Eclipse who was curled up on the ground. Groaning as he crawled up to her body he cradled her and smiled as he nuzzled her body.

She was exhausted from taking in all of that moonlight. She was going to have to sleep off all of that excess power she got. Natsu and Lucy were talking about how they were wondering where the people who were going to eradicate the village were.

"Yeah. Where are they. They left before me and I went all the way back up the temple to get Gray and stumble back here. What could they possibly be doing?"

Just as Natsu finished his sentence. A villager started yelling about something in the sky. Everyone looked up to see a giant rat spinning its tail and carrying a huge bucket.

A sudden smell fills Gray's nose.

'What is that? Where's it coming from? Why does it smell poisonous?'

A drop of green jelly fell from the bucket. The drop was about the size of a beach ball and heading straight for Lucy. Before Gray realized it Natsu slammed Lucy into the ground with himself on top of her.

Getting slightly jealous about their position but suddenly seeing the hole the jelly made where Lucy stood.

'With a bucket of that size poured out that'll destroy the entire village!'

Getting up on weak legs Gray handed Eclipse to Happy and stood up looking up to the rat now dumping the bucket of jelly. Groaning he summoned up as much magic as he could to make a shield for the village.

Closing his eyes he concentrated and called out his spell.

"Ice Dragon : Frozen Mist Shield!"

Sucking in a large gulp of air he held it in his mouth for a second so that the shield would be made of dry ice then he let it out. The mist made a rainbow from the light of the moon but before it could make the sheet of ice the mist dissipated.

'No! I can't be out of magic yet! I need to keep everyone safe!'

Natsu picked up Gray and told everyone to run to the center of the village. With everyone in the center Natsu handed Gray off to Lucy and told Happy to fly him up.

As the pair shoot up in to the sky Natsu was thinking.

'That fight really drained Gray. He can't fight at least not right now. For now I'll take care of it.'

Once at the right distance Natsu shouted the spell he was using.

"The flames in my right hand and the flames in my left put them together and you get Fire Dragon : Brilliant Flame!"

Sure he could have used his breath attack but he was slightly showing off to impress Gray. And Gray was impressed.

'Wow. Strong. And add that to his looks and you got good genes in his gene pool.'

Just thinking about the breeding process that would come if Natsu and himself mated made Gray's insides start to shift. But that would be impossible.

His mate had to bite him for his body to start preparing for breeding. It was a very embarrassing topic Isis made sure to drill into his head. Just thinking about it made Gray's face feel like it burst into flames.

The giant fire ball made a huge hole in the jelly dispersing it as it fell to the ground making steam and dust cover the area. When it all settled Natsu was back on the ground.

But the relief that they weren't all dead was broken when the trio knocked over the chief's son's grave. Seeing the danger Natsu urged everyone to leave.

Moaning in pain and exhaustion as he tried to stand up. He needed to protect at all cost. But Natsu wasn't having that.

"You aren't fighting anyone. You can barely stand. I know you're strong but right now save your strength."

'I can't have you die when I haven't even got you yet and not even then. When we mate I'm going first.'

Before Gray could protest Natsu pecked his forehead and pinched a nerve in the crook of Gray's neck effectively knocking him out. Catching Gray before he hit the ground and reluctantly passed him off to one of the villagers.

'If the only thing that Igneel taught me about dragons and their mates it's that a dragon will protect them till the end. I will protect you and the family I saw in my dream from any and all things that would threaten your lives.'

(A/N : Kay I'm back at school so updates are going to be excruciatingly slow. I value my education more than views. So to occupy your time you can reread this or read the other stories I've posted. Maybe make fanart and show me on DeviantArt. If fanart is made I will post it on the stories and say who made it that is unless you don't want me to show it just tell me. This can extend to my other stories if you so choose. I will say again. Updates are going to be slow just so all of you know I'm in my last year of high school so after I'll have a lot more free time. Enjoy the hunt.)